Indirect Effects of COVID-19 in Africa

Team

Jean-Louis ARCAND
President of GDN,
FERDI Senior Fellow
Vianney DEQUIEDT
Scientific director, FERDI
Scientific leader, Labex IDGM+
Sosso FEINDOUNO
Research Officer, FERDI
Michel GARENNE
Researcher, Institut Pasteur,
Honorary Professor, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Senior Fellow, FERDI
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMI Résiliences
Patrick GUILLAUMONT
President, FERDI
Marlène GUILLON
Lecturer, University of Montpellier
Jacky MATHONNAT
Emeritus Professor, CERDI - Université Clermont Auvergne
Senior Fellow in charge of the Health Program, FERDI

1
Programs
54
Publications
13
Events
20
Blogs
10
Press review

As soon as the pandemic broke out, researchers affiliated with FERDI alerted Northern countries to the dramatic consequences of the global economic crisis on African countries in terms of health and mortality. They also warned of the inequalities in access to vaccines and treatments.

In 2022 and 2023, particular attention was paid to the indirect effects of Covid-19 on mortality in Africa and its impact on the efficiency of district hospitals in two countries: Burkina Faso and Niger.

FERDI contributed to the AFD (French Development Agency)'s program on the impact of Covid-19 on health and the efficiency of healthcare structures in Africa. The aim of this program was to better respond to current and future health shocks. FERDI conducted two studies: one on the indirect effects of Covid-19 on mortality in Africa, and the other on the pandemic's impact on the efficiency of district hospitals in Burkina Faso and Niger. These studies were conducted in collaboration with teams appointed by the Ministry of Health in each country.

The results were published in three articles co-authored with Jacky Mathonnat and one article by Sosso Feindouno, published by AFD and later reproduced in book form by FERDI.

Objectives

↪ To measure the impact of Covid-19 on mortality in Africa.

↪ To measure the impact of Covid-19 on the efficiency of district hospitals.

2024-2025 Ouputs

↪ Jean-Louis Arcand, Sosso Feindouno, and Patrick Guillaumont have published an article in Social Science & Medicine on the transfer of Covid-19 mortality from Northern to Southern countries. This article builds on a study conducted with a grant from the French National Research Agency (ANR) under the "Covid-19 Research Action" call for proposals. The article explores how containment policies in Northern countries, aimed at curbing the spread of the virus and saving lives, inadvertently transferred the risk of mortality to the South, particularly to fragile states, most of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

↪ Publication of Sosso Feindouno's book : La mortalité due au Covid-19 en Afrique : prédominance des effets indirects, Ferdi, 116 p, 2024.